#between zhu hong and shen wei

[hideyseek]

ohhhhhhhh boy !!!!!!!!!! this intermediary fic is turning out to be only vaguely about weilan (in that zyl is like, there, whatever) but really this is about foiling shen wei and zhu hong !!!!!!

like i just — i really really love the idea that shen wei and zhu hong have this ... shared understanding and allyship born out of their shared deep love for zhao yunlan, which lets them connect and understand aspects of each other that maybe even zhao yunlan himself doesn't get to know about them.

[the-marron]

All-Forgotten Fics of Yours Truly

You know who constantly forgets to post stuff on Tumblr? Me.

And so now when I tried to find a link to one of my fics I couldn't because it's physically not there 🙃 I am a pro at social media. So now I decided to do a round up of all the Guardian stuff I haven't posted before, just for archival purposes 😅

Guardian

1. To wild uncharted waters

Summary:

Tonight, Shen Wei is abandoning all of Aoguang’s laws and heading towards the shore, for the second time in his entire life. All for Kunlun.

Also known as mermaid!au, written for @birdbird-blog ❤

2. What happens to the heart

Summary:

“I bring an offering,” he starts, feeling the oddness of the words on his tongue. This is not an offering, not exactly. It’s not incense and gold worthy of a god, it’s not a string of worshipful words either, and yet with who they are, The Ghost King has no other word for it.

There is nothing else a ghost can offer to a god.

Novel-verse, an attempt at happy moment between Kunlun and Shen Wei

3. Spellbound

Summary:

Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei Vs Ancient Couples Counseling

Also known as duck!SW fic

4. The Way of the Househusband

Summary:

Zhao Yunlan vs household chores feat Shen Wei's existential crisis

Technically this one appeared on my self-rec post at some point and it was added to the art that inspired it but I technically didn't publish it here myself, so here it is. Domesticity, dear people, what else can I say.

5. hold every memory as you go

Summary:

Wang Zheng was her first girl friend. It sounds sad when she thinks about it, that the first woman she felt true connection with was a dead girl found by her boss and Da Qing in the woods, but that's still a fact. She didn't have true friends before, not like that.

Also known as: not a fix it people, just Zhu Hong post-canon, thinking about everything she's lost and learning to move on with hope

6. I've got a dream

Summary:

“I swear, if it turns out you have no idea where we are going, I will murder you and leave your body for the crows to find,” Chu Shuzhi said conversationally, stomping through the mud with the air of a man condemned to an unjust punishment. The object of his anger, Zhao Yunlan the Adventurer, just shrugged without turning back. Chu Nianzhi was certain that he had heard worse threats in his life, he used to work at the court after all. Though, in what capacity, Zhao Yunlan had never disclosed – ever since Nianzhi and Shuzhi met him at the inn, winning a strange map from a crowd of very suspicious looking men, all that they managed to get out of him was that he was on an adventure.

Written for an event, it has Chu brothers having The Time of Their Lives (Not) thanks to Zhao Yunlan who Apparently Has A Wife

7. Wish You Were Here

Summary:

Instead of falling asleep, Shen Wei gets to experience the millennia of longing, year after a lonely year.

Written for a friend, featuring, well, lots of loneliness

And I think that's all from Guardian? The rest was here because of the Guardian Bingo, I am pretty sure

And now, as my treat from me to me, the forgotten Luolins:

Luolin [WEILAN DERIVATIVES]

1. Unscathed [WIP]

Summary:

“Well, hello,” the man said, his lips tugging up in a smile. Not prepared for that, all Lin Nansheng could do in reply was to cough shallowly, the exertion of the chase getting to him. “You can let go, comrade, I won’t run.” Despite the lightness in his words, the voice was hushed, as if trying not to attract more attention. And yet, Lin Nansheng found himself letting go. The stranger used his free hand to support the bundle pressed against his chest.

---

A bitter and disillusioned Lin Nansheng gets pulled into much more excitement than he bargained for.

Post-canon longfic that I am still trying to write despite the lack of time. Totally not known as Godzilla AU, not at all good sir.

2. A Practical Arrangement

Summary:

It was a pure accident that Luo Fei and Lan Xinjie knew each other, and that the lady came to Cen Zimo with questions about a possible accommodation for her friend was a sign from the heavens. Luo Fei wasn’t convinced of course, but the argument of 'practical arrangement' swayed him in the end.

Technically it's not Luolin for it features an outsider POV of another deriv that has romantic plans re: LF, but let's be real here, I wouldn't break up Luolin for anyone so it's Luolin through and through. Sorry, Cen Zimo. (I am not)

3. we devour, like a falcon in the dive

Summary:

A quiet moment of trust that morphs into something much more.

Based on art, first attempt to give these two an actual happy ending and not an ambigious one

4. only a touch of dust remains

Summary:

He knows what he will find when he opens the door. He's known for a while, he's been preparing for it but still, the moment his hand touches the handle, he hesitates. He never hesitates, there is no reason for him to do so – there is nothing that can surprise him.

Angst. Outsider's POV. Did I mention angst?

5. All in the Scheme of Things

Summary:

And then Wu-laoshi brought in Luo Fei – a tall, handsome man in a well-tailored suit whose words were outpaced only by his thoughts. It was with relief that Lin Nansheng realized that they didn’t manage to discuss anything and would have to meet again – he had a good excuse to see Luo Fei again.

Modern Teacher!au, a prequel to one of my fics from Weilan Derivs week 2022.

6. Unmoored Academicals [CROSSOVER]

Summary:

A foreboding sense of familiarity washed over Zhao Yunlan. His mind had one, final thought of’ not again’, before the vortex of time opened for good and swallowed everything around him. -- The 'DCU moonlights as Shanghai University' crack that wouldn't leave my brain, with a dash of academia humour

Yeah, I wrote it mostly for crack reasons, but also to appreciate that while there are some similarities between them, SW and LNS are very different, as are LF and ZYL - it is a bit of a love letter to BY and Z1L's acting abilities, dressed up as a crack about a university jumping dimensions, just like Pratchett would have wanted

7. The man you seek is long gone

Summary:

After returning from Hong Kong, Lin Nansheng tries to find out what happened to Luo Fei. -- Mostly canon compliant with some fix-ity changes added

Presumed dead fic, because everyone needs one 🤗

8. It's falsehood's flame, it's a crying shame

Summary:

There is a man at the door, dressed in a rather expensive-looking suit, looking around with a faint air of distaste. He has a cane in his hand and a certain confidence around him – Lin Nansheng notices all of that, but it is dulled by the realization that the man is really handsome. * In an alternate universe, Chen Moqun becomes a crime boss instead of the Station Chief. Lin Nansheng follows him either way, until he encounters an unexpected complication in the form of Luo Fei.

Not-really (and yet) mafia!au which is also my first Luolin ever, written for @babischlong-six 😌❤

and now I am off to live that cryptid life because there are still at least a dozen weilan derivs fics that I haven't posted here either but I don't have the energy to do it today. Better to do something than nothing and all that ~

[miss-ingno]

Happy (belated) 520 Day! After a busy week, I'm finally getting around to exploring the collection :D

I got a lovely time travel fix-it set in mostly YOHE for a gift, in which Shen Wei's post-death memories get flung back into his younger self and that changes things.

Title: Battle Couple by melusineofanjou Ship: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan Words: 5.6k Tags: Time Travel Fix-It, Battle Couple, Rating: PG13, Hand-Wavy Dixing Powers Summary: Shen Wei transmigrates back ten thousand years and makes some changes, but can fate be cheated?

And I got to write my recip @kalgalen one of my favourite new rarepairs - Zhu Hong joining Weilan in their relationship. I went with an arranged marriage plot and had the political situation force the three of them into a wedding :D I'm grateful to them for allowing me to explore this ship and I hope they enjoy it!

Title: colours that touch white emotion Ship: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan/Zhu Hong Words: 11k Tags: Post-Canon Handwavey Fix-It, Arranged Marriage, Political Marriage, Political Alliances, The Treaty Made Them Do It, Yashou Politics, Yashou Culture & Customs, Established Weilan, Developing Relationship, Zhu Hong's unrequited crush, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, PoV Zhu Hong, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Emotional Hurt/Comfort Summary: Once, Zhu Hong dreamt of the day she would marry Zhao Yunlan. Now, forced to marry her crush and his lover to keep the peace between their nations, she dreads the day she'll ruin his happiness.

[dual-domination]

oooooooh will you say more about zyl in italy?? 👀👀👀👀

Hi there \o This is the (supposed) chapter 2 of L'eternità non c'appartiene, the ‘Shen Wei in Milan’ fic I wrote inspired by the Chinese immigrant experiences around me - my region has one of the biggest Chinese communities in my country. I chose Italy (specifically Milan/Bergamo) and not the country I currently live in because it’s where my family came from, and also because it’s where Luci @meluci-fer is and the University of Milan has some interesting things I could use for Shen Wei’s character. “Supposed” because this fic should be a one-shot short thing, but I received lots of questions and requests about wtf Zhao Yunlan is investigating in Italy. I had to put my brain to work because my ideas revolved more around academia, so I wasn’t prepared to start a kind of detective fic. I stopped writing this chapter because the interactions between Shen Wei and his co-worker, an italian professor, were more interesting to write than the romantic thing or the investigation kjskjsjks. Once my brain decides to actually write Weilan + Detective stuff, I’ll go back to this fic. But here, have two snippets of this chaos:

Zhao Yunlan flipped through the pages of the file once more, rereading some details that had caught his attention.  At that time of night, the department office was nearly empty, and he slumped in a chair near the half-open window to read while he smoked. Most of the lights and electronics on the other officers' desks were turned off, leaving the office dimly lit by Zhu Hong's computer screen and Lin Jing's desk lamp - which Zhao Yunlan had turned to the corner where he sat. "You know, boss, I can't do my paperwork with you stealing my lamp..." Lin Jing complained, trying to bring his papers closer to the light, sliding the swivel chair closer to where the boss sat. "I'll do it, but I can't involve a civilian in this shit," Zhao Yunlan said without taking the cigarette out of his mouth. "Who’s the bastard that had this damn idea?!" He closed the file and shook it, before dropping it on his lap and taking the cigarette out of his mouth, puffing the smoke out the window. From her desk, Zhu Hong did not look back as she replied, "If you guess who asked me to track down the Chinese immigrants in Milan, you get a lollipop, Zhao Yunlan." “That fucking man,” Zhao Yunlan muttered. If any trace of humor had remained, it would now be completely gone. Wasn't it enough that he had to work immensely harder to try to get out of the shadow of what seemed like nepotism and show that he deserved the place he was in, he still had to deal with interference in his work all the time?  "Boss, it's safer for your cover if you're going there to meet someone who's already been settled in the country for a considerable amount of time,” Lin Jing explained. “Preferably someone who has been there since before the events that happened here and the suspect's escape." (...) ... Shen Wei was distracted by the sunlight streaming through the room’s tall windows, bathing the mosaics on the ancient floor in autumnal gold. On the large table, open books, notes in two different handwritings and three languages, piles of closed books, pens, post-its, more books, and dangerously, coffee mugs. The first time Shen Wei had seen the coffee mugs being placed on the same table as the ancient books, he had held his breath and tried not to look shocked, scandalized, almost offended, even though the books did not even belong to him. It had been a year. Now he had a coffee mug. With a post-it note stuck to it. He lifted his mug to take a sip and met the writing on the post-it again. Con panna montata e senza zucchero. With whipped cream and no sugar. He stared at the other man across the table, intent on taking notes and checking the book beside him. His designated coworker since before Shen Wei actually arrived in Italy. Shen Wei had worked with a few researchers before, but never one that made him question his life choices every two hours or so. (...)

Thanks for the ask!

[hidey-writes]

wip wednesday

Kunlun-jun says again, “Come around the partition, Shen Wei.”  Shen Wei doesn’t move. This is how it goes, every time. He can’t seem — too eager. In the end, whatever Kunlun-jun might say, however they both might feel, this is still a conversation between a decorated general and an intermediary.  “Xiao Wei,” Kunlun-jun says now, coaxing, the way he always does. Usually, this is when Shen Wei gives in, goes around the partition to the bed, kneels beside Kunlun-jun, and does as he’s bidden. But Zhu Hong is the eighth in a line of seven failed couplings. Shen Wei isn’t the superstitious type, but there’s something about her that makes him think: This will be the end of it. If this really is the final time, he wants to draw it out. He wants to make it last, as much as he can.

this is from the down draft of what i'm calling the sex intermediary fic, which i'm in the middle of outlining for a second draft. i don't know what's happening in this fic anymore ahahaha. i told myself, "this is a crack pwp premise a friend suggested as a joke that i took seriously. this will be like, a 2k oneshot and no more." but actually i have 2.7k of down draft and like 3 entire scenes that need to be inserted into the next draft oops. but also, and i cannot emphasize this enough, i'm having a blast with this worldbuilding wow!!!

[harurio]

guardian ep4

i just started new meds and am overcome with the need to be horizontal at all times so we're gonna watch some more guardiannnn @oneiro-nautical please lmk if the tagging gets annoying tho lol

and right away shen wei, who has clearly never done anything wrong in his life, is getting arrested. look at him. that man's never even rolled through a stop sign

'your confidence and composure reminds me of someone i know' do lao chu and shen wei have a past? i'm interested now

so is this face remover like. flaying these women? is it magic? how gory is this about to get? (edit: okay it's fine)

lmao see i thought shen wei was just really gentle and solemn, like a lan xichen type of person, but here he is bothering chief zhao smirking up a storm. maybe he's truly just a little shit. love him

look at them walking like they're attached at the hip!

look how much space this man is choosing to ignore in favor of letting his arm brush against zhao yunlan's sometimes. shen wei baby i see you

i like how the running gag so far has been situation occurs, shen wei is somehow involved, situation escalates to levels that would injure or kill a human being, shen wei is neither injured nor killed, and zhao yunlan arrives just in time to say are you okay? and shen wei just says im fine :) and you can hear chief zhao go HUH. in his head. progressively louder each time

idk if there is an equivalent of a bedside manner for interviewing suspects but zhao yunlan's is........ not great lol

poor guo changcheng. ma'am do you realize you're flirting with a whole baby

OHHHH so he's stealing the faces and she's putting them on! i see

zhu hong is gorgeous!!!

'don't you know you could get TETANUS' ohhh zhao yunlan your tough act isn't fooling nobody!! you care about him!!!!

awww ik xiao guo is a nepo baby but i'm glad he's starting to find his place on the team (edit: team quit bullying him dear god)

see this is so interesting. before watching this i thought zhao yunlan was a kind of wwx character, really lighthearted, fiercely chaotic good, and he's both those things but he's got an edge on him too. he's not afraid to be mean for the sake of efficiency. whereas i thought shen wei was very lwj, very solemn and hard to read, but he's so damn gentle and he's got such speaking eyes he really reminds me of lan xichen. so far at least

awww chu shuzhi shielded damn cat from the blast. he's just a big ol teddy bear isn't he

i love dramatic conversations held in normal tones of voice between two people facing away from each other standing at least eight feet apart in the great outdoors

ancient!yunlan NAMED HIM??? and (if i've been spoiled correctly) shen wei kept that name for ten thousand years waiting to see him again? just in case that name sparked even the ghost of a memory of their connection? STOP

AUGH

at least this episode didn't bring me perilously close to tears. though i did feel bad for that kid with the dead girlfriend and the revenge molotov. he was annoying but he had a good heart i think. it's sleepy time for me now

[culture-game]

《纸嫁衣》：红白交织符文缀，中式恐怖底蕴萃

Red and white bride, toss and turn, love is looking for the end without regret, for thousands of turns. A wedding dress, death or life is hard to foresee. love is life after life do not separate, being butterfly accompanying each other. Five lake and bright moon, reveal reunion and separation. love is a wisp of incense soul without severance, missing but turning gray. God bestows perfect match,and fate entanglement.love is red silk entanglement, and old dreams will return. Falling Love in the past while meeting now, love is the next life play with tears, leaving shadow only. Thousands of years like a dream, wish hidden, love is back to the past,unable to nestle together in twilight years.

Wedding Dress or mourning one

Wedding or funeral

Why does the festive wedding flooded with funeral products

Red and White

Games paper wedding dress embody

The terror of Chinese style

Ghost marriage:The core of Chinese terror

Ghost marriage, as a peculiar form of marriage in Chinese folk culture, is an important source of inspiration for the story background of the game "Paper Wedding Dress". It originated in the Yin and Shang Dynasties, developed through the Wei, Jin, South-North Dynasties, flourished in the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, continued to progress in the Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing Dynasties, and still secretly prevails in some areas today. Ghost marriage, also known as ghost wedding, Yin marriage, fatal pairing in the underworld, etc., can be divided into two kinds of ghost marriage:between the dead and between the living and the dead.The game plot is mainly the second form.

Q： How to make a Chinese terror puzzle game based on Ghost marriage? Production Team A: We look in folk customs to polish detail and explain traditional culture with plot puzzles.

Folk custom and traditional culture in the games

When it comes to ghost marriage,paper zha and wedding dress are inevitable.

According to the usages,paper zha can be divided into at least three types:sacrificial funeral one,decorative appreciation one and entertainment one.Most of the paper zha appearing in the game is the first one,which is also known as funeral paper zha. This kind of paper zha are mostly paper people, paper horses, houses and modern paper cars, paper electrical appliances and so on.These paper zha not only show the mourning for the deceased, but also symbolize the "illusory things" and "inhuman things" in the game, so that players can constantly feel the blurred boundary between life and death in the process of solving the puzzle.

The design of the wedding dress in The game absorbed the advantages of modern Chinese Hanfu , the version of both the relaxed and comfortable Xiuhe clothing, but also the three-dimensional slim Longfeng coat. According to the personality of different characters, the decoration and accessories of the wedding dress also have their own characteristics, showing a gorgeous and valuable background color or a gentle and beautiful spot color. The wedding dress combines the traditional aesthetics with the gloomy atmosphere, highlighting the unique visual tension of the Chinese terror.

Of course, in addition to the two main elements, the games also intersperse many other excellent traditional Chinese culture and folk culture related content in the scene layout and puzzle solving process...

The surnames of many of the game's main characters, CP, correspond to well-known lovers in folk literature:

The heroine and heroine in the first film, Ning Zifu Nie Moqi, correspond to Ning Caichen and Nie Xiaoqian in the eighth section of Volume 3 of strange Tales from a Chinese studio;

Liang Shaoping Zhu Xiaohong, the protagonist of the second and fifth parts, corresponds to Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai.

Shen Moqing and Wang Jiao Tong in the third part correspond to Shen Chun and Wang Jiaoniang in the novel Tale of Jiao Hong written by Song Yuan in the Yuan Dynasty.

Zhang Chenrui and Cui Wanying in the fourth part correspond to Zhang Junrui and Cui Yingying in Wang Shifu's drama Romance of the Western Chamber in the Yuan Dynasty;

And Liu Fengze Du Yan in the seventh part corresponds to Liu Mengmei and Du Liniang in Tang Xianzu's play The Peony Pavilion in the Ming Dynasty.

For example, in "Paper Marriage Clothes 7 Not betray", Du says that she appears in the form of soul, which is a reference to Du Liniang's story--that her soul leaves her body. Du Liniang awakens in the spring of colorful flowers and seeks for the perfection of life, while Du says that she wants to sacrifice Liu Fengze to make up for her destination as the golden boy and the jade girl, which is a continuation of the Peony Pavilion, but the view of love runs counter to it. Perhaps there is a hidden mystery in its name, "Yanta(Talking her)" is actually "acting her", playing Du Shiniang's joys and sorrows, singing "Peony Pavilion" into "Du Shiniang's angry treasure Chest".

Paper wedding Dress 7  May the name have a different meaning?

I just have a sudden feel."Yanta,Yanta", does not mean Du Liniang but refer to another Du Shi niang. "Yanta" also refers to "acting her", but what she acts is Du Shiniang rather than Du Liniang. From "Peony Pavilion" to "Warning Bell Words", it is really fantastic!

There is "Fengze", which shares similar sound with "crazy" in Chinese characters !!!

They are really attentive to make games! (I may be over-interpreting this, but I do have such a meaning in my heart.) Just one word to describe my feeling, excellent!

A piece of "Peony Pavilion" is explained as "Du Shiniang becomes angry and Sinks All the Treasures"

Liu Fengze and Du Yanta, a golden boy with a jade girl. His Last name is Liu and first name is Fengze, which echoes Liu Mengmei; Her surname is Du, corresponding to Niang, and she was Du Li Niang. But Liu is actually not Liu.His real first name is Li.Yan is actually not Yan because she changes the character.Because of a different word, Liu Mengmei is turned into Li Jia,and Du Liniang is changed into Du Shiniang. The "Peony Pavilion" was performed as "Du Shiniang becomes angry and Sinks All the Treasures" ah, what a fate of a good golden boy and jade girl".

The extreme danger and silence of the interweaving of red and white

The spirit endured, and the bond remained strong.  The two brides in red and white wedding clothes appeared on the poster of Paper Bride 7. The elements of the wedding in red and funeral in white were entangled and intertwined, with a strange sense of beauty. Well-designed elements enhance the recognition of the game, but also promote it becoming widely known, drawing more players to explore the domain of Chinese horror.

Red usually symbolizes happiness and joy in public vision, but when our perspective turns to Chinese horror games, a large area of red often distorts its universal symbolism and strengthens the eerie atmosphere. In addition to symbolizing beauty, red also reflects the most basic human understanding and survival experience of the world, because it comes from blood and fire. Human beings gained strength with the help of fire, continuing the hope of life under cruel living conditions. They cooked food, drove away the cold, sacrificed with blood, and concluded covenants. Red prolonged life in the way of destruction, but it is also easy to attract attention and alert people. When the red wedding dress appears in the gloomy and scary scene, the bright color forms a sharp contrast with the silent background, impacting the player's senses, as if heralding the coming danger or disaster. This atmosphere of anxiety and fear, noticing that a crisis is coming, not only enhances the tension of the game, but also magnifies the player's perception of the atmosphere of terror.

Apart from the eerie red tones, the game is also filled with an uncanny white.In Western culture, white is used to symbolize purity and holiness, while in traditional Chinese culture, if the red wedding dress symbolizes the beginning of marriage, then white, which often appears in funeral ceremonies, symbolizes the end of life. The white lanterns and pale paper people in Paper Bride are quiet and silent, suppressing the breath of "life", closely related to death and funeral, creating an empty and mysterious atmosphere and increasing the sense of suspense of the game. White can also contrast with common dark tones in horror games, which can not only enhance the visual effect of the game, but also better highlight the elements of terror. The interweaving of red and white and the encounter of weddings and funerals help the game put aside the common symbolic meaning of color, allowing players to break away from the cognition gained in reality and immerse themselves in the weird game world.

The mysterious eastern rune leads to the unknown key

Chinese horror games are always inseparable from the elements of Chinese traditional culture. The rune codes in Paper Bride, known as "ghostwrite", are actually some ancient characters or religious symbols. This font, Yunzhuan, was originally a Taoist character, referring to the smoke wrapped around incense burning, or a cloud shaped like the seal character. If players are willing to decipher, they can also connect the password into a correct sentence, such as the Yunzhuan password of the dressing box in the god's sedan chair in the game, which means something in rotation. Combined with ancient Chinese mythology and philosophy, as well as the game setting point of view, it may imply the law and order in the game world. Runes, as symbols that are difficult to interpret in the game, often represent unknown forces, suggesting potential challenges while stimulating players' desire to explore. Such mysterious forces can be positive or negative, symbolize "protection" or play the role of a "curse". The energy carried by the runes themselves and their shape and arrangement have cast an atmosphere of mystery over them. Coupled with the unknown spell effect set by the game background, players can feel more oppression and fear.

Cultural symbols always serve for the atmosphere and plot narration of the game. Like the empty temple pagoda, the village with smoke and ghost fire, and the squeaking wooden doors, these common elements not only symbolize decay and silence, but also build an audio-visual language environment full of terror. They can not only enhance the players' sense of tension and insecurity, but also serve as a carrier to promote the development of the plot. Through the interpretation of these cultural symbols, players can deeply understand the storyline of the game while enjoying the playability of the game. They can also feel the charm of Chinese horror more deeply.

The paper wedding dress series of games, with the theme of ghost marriage, takes players on a thrilling and suspenseful Chinese horror adventure. In the next episode, we will delve deeper into the unique aspects of Chinese horror to present you with a more comprehensive and in-depth Chinese horror world, giving you a different horror experience. See you in the next episode!

Additional Information:

In the second chapter, the correct answer of the cloud seal password of the dresser box in the palanquin is that from right to left to read the meaning of "six respect five elements rotation", friends who are interested in it can also go to know this "scribble" ! (actually it is the cloud seal)

[dragoncityinteriordesign]

There's a very cute and easy-to-miss bit of Dual Protective Boyfriending that happens here. When the Scooby Gang confronts Wang Xiangyang in this inexplicably barrel-lined industrial alley, Ya Qing arrives in an explosive poof of dark energy. In reponse:

Shen Wei starts moving the second that bird shows up, going straight for Zhao Yunlan and putting himself bodily between potential disaster and bisexual disaster. He's back on guard the second the explosive force starts to dissipate, though. His reaction times are really good when what he's reacting to is not getting a lollipop shoved in his pretty little mouth.

Chu Shuzhi tales a second longer to get going, but when he does, he grabs the hem of his coat and uses it to both spin Guo Changcheng so he's away from the explosion and cover his head. Maybe Chinese censorship thinks it's not gay when you tenderly protect another man from danger but also you look a little bit like Batman when you do it? I couldn't say.

Meanwhile, Zhu Hong, left to fend for herself on the other side, considers her two options, compares their relative sizes, and unceremoniously deputizes Lin Jing as her human shield, which honestly is a very good use for him.

[yuezhi-weilan]

Zhu hong is also there but Our chief zhao only search for shen wei even THEY HOLD EACH-OTHER HANDS😭😭😭

zhu hong dear you are a third wheel between them🤡

[phoenixkaptain]

Finished Guardian (second read) last night. I just gotta say: Shen Wei is super feral in the novel. He is this close to snapping at any moment. His self control is like a violin string pulled too tight, if it is pulled anymore it will snap. And Zhao Yunlan is like a pair of scissors, cutting the string easily because good lord Zhao Yunlan tests Shen Wei’s self control a lot.

At one point, Shen Wei is like “You know what I am, the place I come from, and you still test me.” And Zhao Yunlan is like “Yeah, I’m not stopping.” Zhao Yunlan even sees Shen Wei’s creepy locked stalker room full of paintings of him, and all he does is change his plans and then tease Shen Wei more (but never mention it. The creepy stalker room is never mentioned agaim after this point).

Shen Wei force-feeds Zhao Yunlan “medicine” that is actually blood from his heart; as in, Shen Wei stands in the kitchen and stabs himself in the chest to bleed his heart so his can shove his own blood down Zhao Yunlan’s throat. Then, a bit later, Shen Wei’s like “I considered just tearing my heart out and giving it to you, but I thought it might freak you out.”

There’s a Ghost City they end up in (don’t ask, it’s later in the book and I don’t want to explain it) and Zhao Yunlan gets attacked by ghosts. Shen Wei kills a ghost, which he wasn’t supposed to do, one of the people who know rules in Hell is like “You can’t-“ and Shen Wei is like “I can’t kill? I have yet to meet a creature that my blade doesn’t cut through.” and it’s the funniest thing he says, that man is unhinged from the get go.

Zhao Yunlan knows that Shen Wei is the Ghost Slayer (basically, if you’ve never read the novel and only saw the show, think of the Ghost Slayer as the equivalent of Hei Pao Shi, only where Hei Pao Shi is generally scary to the Dixingren, he tries not to actively hurt or kill them, Ghost Slayer is everyone’s worst nightmare to the point that just saying his name is enough to get people to do your bidding and, instead of protecting the ghosts, Ghost Sayer sees them as disgusting ants to be squeezed out of existence and the only thing holding him back from double murdering every ghost in existence is that Kunlun would be disappointed in him). The show draws out the period between Zhao Yunlan meeting Shen Wei and Shen Wei being revealed to him as the Ghost Slayer, but in the book it isn’t as long. The case in the mountains is the second one. Zhao Yunlan gets a book from Hell, the Book of Life ad Death, because blah blah Hell wants him to know who Shen Wei is for nefarious purposes or whatever. Zhao Yunlan realizes he’s the Ghost Slayer. Then, just to be sure, he uses some of Shen Wei’s hair (that’s how the book works) and asks who he is. The book says “A soulless creature.” “Where’s he come from?” “An unspeakable place of evil.”

Zhao Yunlan confronts Shen Wei and Shen Wei expects him to be really upset, but Zhao Yunlan spends one month not talking to him, then decides “Nobody ever said outloud to my face directly that I shouldn’t marry the Ghost Slayer.” and he starts flirting with Shen Wei again almost immediately.

My favourite thing is right after he confronts Shen Wei about it the second time, and they’ve decided that rules are dumb, let’s make out. Zhu Hong asks something reasonable like “Why did you bring a professor to this dangerous crime scene?” and Zhao Yunlan is like “Shen Wei? He’s part of the team.” Shen Wei has this moment of “oh no, is he going to reveal my identity as Ghost Slayer” only for Zhao Yunlan to be like “He’s my wife.” And so begins Zhao Yunlan calling the infamous, feared by all, feral Ghost Slayer he wife. I love it

I really like at the end, where, SPOILERS, Shen Wei is basically like “I’m ready to die, I fucked Kunlun twice, what more do I have to live for?” He doesn’t say it outloud, but we all know he was thinking it (he porbably wasn’t but I think I’m funny) Kunlun really for reals shows up at the end and is like “My fucking wife really tried to erase my memories, I’ll pretend to not be smitten for two days as punishment.” He doesn’t even make it two days after Shen Wei wakes up from his coma. Zhao Yunlan and Kunlun are saps, which doesn’t make sense, they should be rocks-

Anyway, I also love when Zhao Yunlan sees memories of his past life as Kunlun, and it’s little Ghost King Wei giving him a necklace made out of teeth. Kunlun (most unromantic person ever) doesn’t like this gift. Shen Wei (baby version) is truly perfect.

Anyway, to end this off, I’m going to recommend people read this. The plot is hard to follow, it took me two read-throughs to really understand even basically what was going on, but the romance is peak perfection. Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei were literally and metaphorically made for each other.

[whomst-art-thou-whomst-whomst]

Ye Zun, or, Feral to Domesticated-ish In Five Easy Steps: A Guide by The SID Team

(Listen just deal with this new pattern of posts, these “guides” are my headcanons and I’ve got more plot bunnies than Lan Wangji has bunnies, I need to try them out somewhere)

1.) When you’ve got a traumatized Dixingren obsessed with eating everything, snacks are a must. It’s like having a baby at a fancy reception, you gotta keep him relaxed and satisfied, everyone in the SID has a Ye Zun snack section in their desks. Conflict briefly threatened this plan when there was unfortunate overlap between the supplies for Ye Zun’s candy and Zhao Yunlan’s lollipops. It was eventually resolved, albeit with some bitterness. As Zhu Hong dryly observed in her Incident Report, there is no real winner in a fight between two grown men screaming at each other about red lollipop shortages while being physically held apart by an anxious college professor.

2.) Ye Zun is not allowed to get drunk. It’s the opposite problem from Shen Wei’s little swooning issue—Ye Zun seems to be amplified more with every sip, gaining energy and bidding a gleeful farewell to whatever inhibitions he had. Lin Jing secretly loves the mornings after parties where Ye Zun needs his help to construct: 1.) whether he did something dumb or dangerous (usually while mostly sober), 2.) whether he was flirty towards someone (literally everyone around except Shen Wei, because he’s Gege, and Zhao Yunlan, because he’s the worst), 3.) whether he stole food (yes, because it probably should be his anyway??? and Da Qing supports him on this), 4.) whether he confessed to a crime (rarely one of the crimes he has actually committed), or 5.) all of the above (it’s always all of the above).

3.) warning—do not attempt to reason with Ye Zun when he’s in a mood. Ye Zun’s paranoia and insecurity have manifested in his new life as hyper vigilance toward anyone outside the Circle of Trust (mainly Shen Wei and himself, includes Zhao Yunlan and the SID on special occasions). Dangers, according to Ye Zun’s solemn explanation while drunk (see: above), include but are not limited to the following: Zhao Xinci and all he stands for, every human ever, anyone who reminds him of Before (aggressive, angry, cruel), the people who try to chat with him in coffee shops (he bluntly informs them he is no one’s fluffy AU fic), scary sirens, students who come to Gege’s office hours (seeking out “lab report guidance” yeah right, it’s clearly a trap and Gege is too naive to see it), and canaries (why are they singing? what are they planning?). Maybe just kind of monitor him in the moment and we will deal with it after the mood eases, says Zhao Yunlan, who is on step 4 of his 13 point plan to Get Both My Love And The Brat Some Fucking Therapy, Which I Do Not Need Myself.

4.) Take the olive branches where you can get them. Zhao Yunlan found himself agreeing (????) with Ye Zun that Shen Wei needs, like, some kind of LoJack device, following a mission gone horribly wrong where some vengeful Dixingren teleported a battle-drained Shen Wei somewhere deep in the mountains and left him in a frozen ravine. It took the SID two days to find him, half-conscious but stubbornly stumbling in the general direction of home. After a drowsy but recovering Shen Wei was bundled in blankets and Dr. Cheng gave him something to aid sleep, Ye Zun and Zhao Yunlan stayed up to watch over him. This meant essentially that Shen Wei slept peacefully in bed while Zhao Yunlan and Ye Zun spent several hours curled up on either side of him texting back and forth furiously over 1.) whose fault the whole mess was, 2.) who the hell is gonna make dinner now because Gege/Xiao Wei is resting (Da Qing brought it up), 3.) the ethics of straight up murdering the teleporter for risking Shen Wei’s life, and 4.) maybe finding a way to put a special tracker on Shen Wei, he would literally never notice. They agree on items 3 and 4, which is more agreement than ever before. It marks a shift. Ye Zun cautiously pencils Zhao Yunlan into the Circle of Trust.

5.) It’s the little moments, the balanced, ordinary actions that help, here. Not interrupting Ye Zun or talking over him, but not letting him dominate conversation (unless Zhao Yunlan is being particularly chatty for hours on end, at which point Lin Jing texts Da Qing unleash hell and Da Qing prods Shen Wei’s brother and lover into a screaming match about something until they both lose their voices). It’s about not asking why Ye Zun sometimes needs all the space he can get and why he sometimes ends up half on Shen Wei’s lap while his brother reads scientific paper drafts aloud to him (he does not give a fuck about the content, it’s all about Gege’s calm voice and rhythmic head scritches). It’s letting Ye Zun choose where they eat, asking for input on strategy offhandedly so he doesn’t start feeling pushed into a role. It’s letting him be Ye Zun, once he decides he’s keeping that name and figuring out what that means.

Stay tuned for: Ye Zun’s Guide to Being A Feral Bitch Posing As Domesticated-ish Because It Is Nice To Have Treats And To Have Opportunities To Piss Off Zhao Yunlan, Plus It Makes Gege Happy When I Don’t Eat People

[redxblueihateloveyou]

Am I the only one who doesn’t get why some (tw) are shitting on Haru and Rin separately just for the fact that they reciprocate each others feelings? Because it’s not the feelings they wanted them to reciprocate? Just curious because I'm new and recently entered the fandom. And since when miscommunication in between means that they don't deserve to be happy at the end? Because you're an idiot when it comes to love, doesn't mean you're a bad person. I came from chinese bl and it's weird to me.

Hehe welcome to the madness, perfect time to join! Yeah, tbh that's the thing in the fandom that always bugged me the most. The fact that some act like if you don't reciprocate someone's feelings, it makes you a bad person. I always found it incredibly cringy when ppl in real life for example make ppl feel guilty for not feeling the same way and make you feel like shit bc of it. I don't get why you have to apologize for that or feel bad, if you never ever gave him any hope or anything in the first place.

Nowdays it's thankfully a rare sight already in this fandom, bc most already grown and see perfectly what's truly healthy and unhealthy, it's just tbh only the same 3 accounts ppl keep sending me that are still on that, who also think that Haru is literally possessed in the last movie so I don't see the point of like arguing with ppl like this. It's just they're always getting extremely angry when Haru wants Rin as if it's his fault that he feels this way and always go about it like he is inconsiderate of Makoto's feelings. Implying that they're mad that he doesn't feel that way about Makoto, while Makoto does. I'm same as @tododeku-or-bust for example said here (idk what fandom brought this on, but just in general) also do not get what's appealing about this kind of relationships in the first place.

If they shipped it in terms of like it's mutual I'd get it, but they go on about how Rin or Haru are bad friends bc they're not in love with their best friends... like ?????? I didn't know you owe it to your friends to have romantic feelings for them.

In real life if you found out that your bestie feels that way for you while you don't reciprocate, it's a burden, that'll make you feel uncomfortable and at times guilty when you shouldn't technically feel that way. So putting on someone a burden of "I was pining for you all along", when you know they don't feel the same is giving me this feeling of cringe. So I personally do not get what's enjoyable at seeing it like that in Free. But to each their own kink lmao.

It's like... is Haru at fault for the fact that he was Ikuya's first love too? I do not get it really. Like he doesn't have to take responsibility for everyone who falls for him and he doesn't owe anyone to reciprocate their feelings. Even to Rin. Like if he didn't feel the same way for Rin, it wouldn't be his fault either. But since he does feel the same way for him, it's like... good, great, happy for them.

Like once again if someone believes that Makoto and Sousuke are unrequitedly in love with Rin and Haru, that's not rinharu fault. Haru literally never ever lead Makoto on EVER. He never ever did anything that would make Makoto believe that they're more than friends. He was always honest about everything. Like when Makoto thought that he went out to see him, but Haru just wanted to see the sunrise, he told him just that. He never encoraged anything, he refused to live with him and never wanted. I do not get why it's supposed to be his fault that he doesn't like his friend in that way. If Makoto has some unrequited feelings for him and decided to hang up on this, it's his own life choice in my opinion.

It's like saying that Onodera and Takano for example don't deserve to be together just because they unintentionally hurt each other and got separated for 10 years bc of misunderstanding. This argument is like typical Yokozawa life position aka "but I was there when he left you heartbroken for several years, that means you MUST pick me". As I've said before, that's just not how it fucking works. And just bc they couldn't explain things to each other normally, doesn't mean that they don't deserve be happy now. Being idiots is not a crime.

Or if you came from chinese bl, lets go "Guardian" for example. Zhu Hong also was on about how "why you love Shen Wei, not me, I always did everything for you and I was always there, I even wore heels bc you once said you liked those etc". Like he never asked her to do this, he never gave her any hope, he was beyond rude and open about the fact that he's not interested, he never did anything to make her think she had a chance since the beginning. Just bc she decided to dedicate her life to false hope that maybe one day something might change is not his fault. It was her choice. Why Yunlan should feel like shit bc of that I do not get personally.

I'm just buffled bc like Haru for example is the most caring about other ppl's pain person, but they call him selfish and rude bc of the way he is with Makoto at times, not even realising that it IS in fact what means being kind sometimes.. to not give someone a chance when you know you don't feel it. I was always saying this like since forever, being kind doesn't mean for example giving everyone second chances, loving everyone, wanting to be friends with anyone etc. In some situations it's not being kind, it's being stupid or even not being a good person. Once again... offering someone friendship after he openly dissed your friend and you see that he's not in any position to talk back is not kind. Or if someone cheats on you constantly, but you always forgive them it's also not you being kind. It's you being stupid. Sometimes you have to be harsh. It's for the greater good.

And like I saw several times stuff like someone under scenes where Rin has his eyes for Haru only, commenting like "oh great, look at Rin being inconsiderate of Sousuke's feelings again. Can't believe you guys find this romantic." I mean, if in their opinion Sousuke is in pain from being Rin's friend, he can end it, it's his choice. It's not Rin's fault that he thinks of him as just his friend. So thinking that Rin is an asshole bc each time he simply hangs out with Sousuke he's a selfish bitch is fucking insane. I'd feel extremely bad if my best friend was seeing it this way for example. It's like hella ugly.

This annoys me also bc of the fact that Rin, the person who at the age of 12 single-handedly saved his family from falling apart after his father's death, who's an amazing friend to Sousuke and did everything to make his happy after he found out about his trauma and always checks on him first and cries about his shoulder, who in the late evenings taught Rei to swim, when everyone else gave up already xD, who was looking after Nitori during his training, who pretends to walk the same road, just because he's scared to let Gou return alone in the evenings, the most amazing son and brother, is suddenly an asshole just because Haru is in love with him, but not with Makoto. I mean, thats just... huh? Like I dont mind you ship what you want to ship, it's like to each their own crayons for real. But like dissing them and call them selfish just bc they only see their friends as friends and don't want anything more is weird to me.

As for the fact that bc of the misunderstanding they don't deserve to be happy, that's just idiotic. I mean, lets punish Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan too just bc Lan Zhan couldn't voice his real feelings back then and bc WWX misunderstood him. Lets ship WWX with Wen Ning instead. Nezumi is cancelled, he doesn't deserve to be with Shion. He left him. Takano should stay with Yokozawa, Onodera is trash. Wu Xie is trash for wanting to be with Zhang Qiling too. It doesn't matter why he leaves, it only matters that he always does. I can't believe he doesn't see that Pangzi is there with him all along xD. What an ungrateful trash of a human being I can't even.

And anyways btw both Rin and Haru are not ideal human beings in any way (otherwise I wouldn't love them this much tbh xD). But their flaws are definitely not what for example mh shippers usually blame them for. You can argue about their other imperfections easily. Like being stupidly stubborn for example. I won't point fingers here, Haru lolz. Or literally anything else.

My point is you can find what to trash them for logically, if you wanna. Do it smartly tho. Otherwise you make your ship look bad.

And I once again say what wise person said about his relationships and about the fact that not being able with someone he loves hurt him and 'why is he doing this to himself' he answered: "it's not on him. my happiness and my pain is for me to handle". Everyone decides for themselves. This is why for example Haru was so broken about voicing this to Rin and didn't have any intentions to tell him that in the first place. Bc it's not right, if you're not sure that it's requited. Technically he has no right to blame Rin for making him fall in love with him and then leaving in the first place. It's not Rin's fault really, that he made him feel what he feels for him, it's ultimately Haru's problem. That's why he feels has no right to blame him in the first place. I mean, he doesn't know that Rin feels the same, that means saying to him "you break my heart each time you leave" and making him feel bad about it is technically wrong. That's why Haru to himself said "no, please, don't say such things to him". Everyone for himself decides who deserves your 5, 7, 800 or 10000 years of your pain. It's your decision. It's your life. If Haru feels like Rin is worth it, then you have no say in that matter really. The only reason we call Rin an idiot or Haru an idiot is because we know they feel the same, so we can. But blame someone else for not feeling what you're feeling is not right.

So like even if you feel like Makoto and Sousuke have feelings for their friends, blaming Haru and Rin for having feelings for each other and not for them is beyond weird. And there's nothing wrong with putting someone you love first, every bro/sis gets it. You can say bros before hoes all you want, but like Lan Zhan might just drop his bro for his hoe, if he was given a choice. Would it make him a bad person? The fact that Wu Xie chose to save Xiaoge before Pangzi makes his a bad person? My point is it's not all that easy.

I just feel like many ppl in this fandom are very weird about many things. Either because they do not get what it's like to go through some things or maybe they just do not get that no matter how cheesy this sounds love is not that simple. I mean, for example not all selfish is bad, sometimes like in Haru's case for example not being selfish is also bad. Bc if he finally asks for what he wants, he will make both himself AND Rin happy.

To be angry at Rin bc of the aftermath of his father's death and s1 I never had it in me, after knowing everything and how adults handled it. If some of Sousuke's fans bc of Yakusoku and the fact that Rin found his salvation in Haru bc he helped him to move forward after getting his family out of this hell alone and that Haru was the safe haven that made him happy in this moment of his life, want to trash Rin for the fact that he "neglected" Sousuke, its like your opinion. I personally do not get it. Rin doesn't owe Sousuke anything. It's not his fault again that Haru's existence helped him to feel better.

Just like not everyone will get why Haru in 1x12 was so happy about the fact that he could help Rin. To be that special somebody for someone who can "save" you in moments of your life like this, especially if you love them is an incredible feeling. And no, your bestie isn't always the person for this job, no. I don't see why people do not get that I guess, that's all. But we all have our own opinion on everything, so...

We same as you do not get it since forever, but its like it is what it is in this fandom. I personally just have another life position on stuff, so I'm very far from that point of view they have.

[recapitulation]

[id: gifs from the web series “Guardian,” each gif showing a different scene. The first shows Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan communicating via video call. Shen Wei is holding up a picture of a bear to the camera and saying, “The Tibetan Blue Bear lives in high plain environments. Its body is similar to humans in size so it would make more sense to cause the wound at that location on the body.” Zhao Yunlan winces and looks down in frustration, head propped up by his hand. Next to him, Xiao Guo spares him a quick glance, frantically taking notes. The second gif shows Chu Shuzhi taking on the phone to Zhao Yunlan, saying, “Easy for you to say. I can’t just run into [Xiao Guo] as and when you say it.” Zhao Yunlan takes the phone from his ear and raises his eyebrows. Then, Xiao Guo stumbles into frame, bumping into Chu Shuzhi. In the next gif, Shen Wei asks with a straight face, “I’m wondering which of the students is your grandfather,” and Zhao Yunlan looks up with a wince. Next, Zhu Hong is shown standing with a syringe, saying, “This is from my tribe’s apothecary. I thought it looked fun, so I always kept it on me.” Zhao Yunlan responds, “Have you misunderstood the word ‘fun’?” In the next gif, Shen Wei takes a handkerchief out of his pocket and rather aggressively applies it to Zhao Yunlan’s bleeding nose, who takes it from him exasperatedly. Next, Shen Wei leans forward and says, “Who told you I can’t?” Making Zhao Yunlan still completely. In the next gif, Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing are in the hospital. Zhao Yunlan catches Da Qing’s gaze and completely stops, making Da Qing recoil a little in confusion. Zhao Yunlan rather comically flickers his eyes between Da Qing and the girl in the hospital bed beside him. Next, Shen Wei says to Zhao Yunlan, “I… I just… exercise regularly.” In the next gif, Shen Wei looks down at his hand and says, “A small wound just needs a rinse with water.” Zhao Yunlan interjects, “What small wound?” In the last gif, Zhao Yunlan is driving and tells Shen Wei, “Okay fine, I’ll let you choose the topic.” Shen Wei responds, “We can stop talking.” /end id] 

Guardian + moments that make me laugh every time  

[miss-ingno]

Everything I Wrote In 2023

...or at least the bits I posted to Ao3 :D 21 works with a word count of 71,998 total! I'm honestly surprised, I thought it was much less considering how little I felt like writing between work and health issues sapping my energy.

I'll sort these alphabetically by fandoms and within the fandoms chronologically from first posted to last.

Assassin's Creed II Title: Return To Sender Ship: Claudia Auditore/Desmond Miles, Claudia Auditore & Ezio Auditore Words: 3.5k Tags: Epistolary, Time Travel, Marriage, POV Outsider (as in Outsider on the Time Traveller PoV), In-Universe Documents Summary: Over the years, Ezio and Claudia exchanged many letters. These are the ones concerning Claudia's husband, then-stranger, Desmond.

Deja Vu by Dreamcatcher (Music Video) Title: All Our Memories, They're Haunted Ship: Jiu/Yoohyeon Words: 1.1k Tags: Memories, Regret, Grief/Mourning, the Queen is dead; long live the Queen, Dark Yoohyeon, Murder Summary: There are no witnesses to her ascent. There is no one she trusts not to stab her in the back. Title: Our Love's A Curse Ship: Jiu/Yoohyeon Words: 833 Tags: Backstory, Happy with A Bad Ending, Off-screen Character Death, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Yoohyeon's descent into madness, Assassin Yoohyeon Summary: Yoohyeon worked hard to create a perfect world for Jiu and herself. But perfection isn't forever.

Detective L Title: Both Is Good Ship: Ben Jieming/Luo Fei/Qin Xiaoman Words: 1.5k Tags: Relationship Status: It's Complicated, Pre-Relationship, Developing Relationship, Background Case, Post-Canon, Pre-Poly, Polyamory Negotiations, Insecurity, lbr they all have their issues but they love each other for who they are and that's what's important Summary: The day before the police ball, Ben Jieming and Luo Fei discuss who should accompany Qin Xiaoman. Unbeknownst to them, she already made her choice.

Dimension 20 - Mentopolis Title: Where in Mentopolis are the Prefrontal P.I.s? Ship: Ensemble Words: 800 Tags: Logic Grid Puzzle, Worldbuilding, Post-Canon Summary: It’s the Grand Opening of Daniel Fucks’ new Emporium of Exquisite Pleasures, but none of the other Prefrontal P.I.s have shown up! However, through his criminal network, Daniel hears some rumours about what they’re each up to. Can you help him find them and drag them away from whatever they’re doing for this most important of all events?

Granting You A Dreamlike Life Title: The Hero Returns Ship: Hong Lan & Luo Fusheng, implied Duan Tianying/Luo Fusheng Words: 826 Tags: Late Canon Fix-It, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, PoV Tianying Summary: The first thing Hong Lan does as head of the Hong family is to order Luo Fusheng back home.

Grimm (TV) Title: Back In A Spell Ship: Sean Renard/Juliette Silverton, Nick Burkhardt/Juliette Silverton, pre-Nick Burkhardt/Sean Renard/Juliette Silverton Words: 7.2k Tags: Time Travel Fix-It, POV Juliette Silverton, former Hexenbiest Juliette, Nick is not a Grimm yet, Identity Reveal, Magic Revealed, Dinner Date with Ulterior Motives, Secrets Summary: Going back in time has a price. Juliette will make damn sure it was worth it. Title: Sting Of Love Ship: Nick Burkhardt/Monroe Words: 1k Tags: Kissing Slice of Life Action/Adventure Wesen of the Week Episode Style Summary: Monroe accompanies Nick on Grimm business.

Guardian (drama and novel) Title: Growing Pains Ship: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan & Da Qing Words: 2.5k Tags: Case Fic lite, Haixing-Dixing politics, set between Episode 4 and Episode 5, Early in Canon, Zhao Yunlan takes a bullet for a Dixingren Hurt Zhao Yunlan Protective Shen Wei (Guardian) Morality Summary: During their most recent case Zhao Yunlan's superiors put him in a difficult position: follow orders, or summon Heipaoshi to hand over the Dixingren? Title: Telenovela Ship: one-sided Zhao Yunlan/Zhu Hong, background Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan Words: 315 Tags: Slice of Life, Zhu Hong gets to be snake-y, Pining, Denial Summary: Zhu Hong watches dramas in her free time. Title: In This, As In All Things (WIP) Ship: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan & Da Qing Words: 13k+ Tags: Time Travel Fix-It, Time Travel: Post-Canon to Pre-Canon, Secret Identity, Identity Shenanigans, Established Relationship, Family Issues Summary: Given the chance to right the wrongs of the past, Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei go back to before they met (again). But how much can they change faced with a very different SID than the one under Zhao Yunlan's lead? Title: Ruffling Feathers Ship: Zhu Hong & Da Qing & Ya Qing Words: 7.1k Tags: Post-Canon, Handwavey Fix-It, Yashou Politics, Case Fic, Zhu Hong and Da Qing team up to solve a theft, Yashou High Chief Zhu Hong, Yashou Worldbuilding, Mistakes Are Made, Zhu Hong is new to this job Summary: Zhu Hong is more than ready to delay her responsibilities for old times' sake when Da Qing approaches her about his missing bells. But the case takes them smack-dab into internal Yashou politics and Zhu Hong's mettle as High Chief is put to the test. Title: Two Of A Kind Ship: Ya Qing/Zhu Hong Words: 12.9k Tags: Time Travel Fix-It, Pre-Canon, Yashou Politics, Yashou Worldbuilding, Pre-Relationship, PoV Ya Qing, mentions of the Time Loop, Background Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, mentions of the canonical ending, Antagonist Ye Zun, BAMF Ya Qing Summary: Zhu Hong approaches Ya Qing with a warning from the future. Ya Qing is... intrigued despite herself. Title: Freezing Ship: Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng/Ye Huo Words: 507 Tags: Character Study, Missing Scene, Episode 19 Summary: Stuck in the experimental lab, Chu Shuzhi has time to contemplate his newest companion. Title: Days of Splendour Ship: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan & Zhaodad & Zhaomom (novel) Words: 1.9k Tags: Wedding Planning, Wedding Fluff, Post-Canon Summary: Zhao Yunlan knows what he wants: Shen Wei, at his side, forever. Title: Happy Hour Ship: Shen Wei & Shen Wei's students, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan & SID Words: 975 Tags: Background Case, Shen Wei's terrible lies, undercover at a bar Summary: A criminal, a professor, and a cat walk into a bar. The professor's students did not expect to be part of the joke. Title: An Intimate Touch Ship: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan Words: 2.2k Tags: YOHE, Facial Shaving, Hair Brushing, Hair Braiding, Almost Kiss, Domestic Fluff Summary: Shen Wei helps Kunlun shave his beard. Title: Gossip Mango Ship: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan & Shen Wei's students Words: 1.9k Tags: Social Media, Episode Related (1-8), Canon Compliant, mentions of canon suicidal ideation and murders Summary: Not only does Dragon City university have a great and sophisticated study program for many different majors, it also has a flourishing social media site for students to discuss their studies social activities recent events.

Harry Potter Title: To Seek Knowledge Ship: Hermione Granger & Luna Lovegood & Ginny Weasley Words: 4.4k Tags: Female Friendship, Spell Theory, Bullying, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Hogwarts Second Year, Golden Trio (background) Summary: A precocious pre-teen on a quest for knowledge ends up changing the future. She even makes a friend or two on the way.

Naruto Title: Adventitious Ship: Haruno Sakura & Hatake Kakashi & Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumak Naruto Words: 5k Tags: Developing Friendships, set after the Wave mission but before the Chuunin Exams, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, in which Team 7 grows closer and Sasuke doesn't defect, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 Have Issues (don't worry they're working on it), Mission Fic (sort of), no literal geese were involved in the making of this fic, in which Team 7 accidentally topples several villains' plans Summary: To keep Team 7 busy, Kakashi-sensei sends his students on a wild goose chase. Much to his dismay, they actually find a golden goose.

长公主在上 | Zhǎng Gōng Zhǔ Zài Shàng Title: By Your Side Ship: Li Yunzhen/Gu Xuanqing, Li Yunzhen & Li Chenglin Words: 2k Tags: Post-Canon Court Politics Dom/sub Undertones Established Relationship Relationship Development Summary: After tricking the Chancellor into publicly rebelling, Li Yunzhen retires from politics.

[sasamelons]

I figured that now would be a great time to update my @guardianbingo​ card, since I added a bunch of fills in the last little while, especially as part of the The Marvelous (Mis)adventures of Da Qing, King of Cats event.

I think I’m doing pretty well based on my original goal, which is just 3 completed lines, although I am tempted to try for the whole card after seeing all of Gracie’s beautiful badges 😍 (Although I have to say I’m not very good at completing lines hahaha thank goodness for bonus prompts)

So here’s my list of Bingo fics (and I always love to chat about any of my works and wips if anyone’s interested)!

Completed Prompts:

Fluff: Episode 30: Operation Fluff — Da Qing cheering up Zhao Yunlan

Suits: Episode 23: Nap-worthy — Da Qing considers the implications of Shen Wei in his territory

Lao Li: Episode 26: To Follow and To Guard — Da Qing’s important relationships

S.I.D.: Episode 21: The Presence of a Cat — Da Qing and bb Zhao Yunlan

Cong Bo: Episode 15: The Best Investigator in Dragon City — Da Qing shares the tea on Weilan

Betrayal: the last cup of tea — Shen Wei meets Shen San in the underworld

Flirt: Focus on: Da Qing and Zhu Hong gossiping about Zhao Yunlan, Ep 8 (meta)

Mountain-River Awl: Chapter 11: Sparks — Da Qing investigates the Hallows

Lollipops: the sweetest thing — pendant of pining drabble

Zhao Yunlan’s Housekeeping: the minor gods — Zhao Yunlan discovers tiny dragon Shen Wei’s secret powers

Monthly Prompts:

February, “Tiger”: top of the food chain — the SID gets ready for Chinese New Year with at Da Qing’s help expense

June, “Dragon”: midsummer offerings — Zhao Yunlan, Da Qing, and tiny dragons Shen Wei and Ye Zun celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival

July, “Meeting Again”: [podfic] No Matter How Long by rlyqueer

August, “Star-Crossed Lovers”: weaving twilight — Sailor Moon AU “Silver Millennium” prequel aka YOHE xianxia AU

October, “Supernatural Elements”: stillness — novelverse Mama Zhao and baby Yunlan

November, “Short and Sweet”: hell or high water — novelverse drabble

Works in Progress:

Alternate First Meeting: first part of vigilante!Shen Wei aka triple identity porn au longfic that I’ve been writing forever aka the fic that keeps on giving (1, 2, 3)

New Beginnings: [podfic] Kite With a Broken String by teyla

Transformation: big cat Da Qing fic

Students: Sailor Moon AU — Zhu Hong fic

Legends: yashou legends fic OR shen wei & ye zun roleswap au

Plot Bunnies:

Mountains: weilan soulmates AU (soulmarks)

Lollipops: pendant of pining fic (1, 2) OR everything everywhere all at once AU aka multiverse fic

Cigarettes: interlude between parts 1 and 2 of vigilante/identity porn au

Soulfire: ghost kitty fic

Guardian Lantern: Doctor Who AU

[cybernaght]

Guardian rewatch: episode 7

The world’s most amicable mugging continues in this episode, as Shen Wei waits for Zhao Yunlan to spring into his defence as his personal knight in shining armour. Or, as the official subtitle of the episode states:

I kid you not. Here’s the original with the alternate translation.

I am once more very much not mad at it. 

I say that Shen Wei’s mugging is amicable, but that is of course is before one of the “gangsters” tries to grab at his Pendant of Pining. “It’s not something that you people can touch”, he states, easily restraining the man’s wrist. He’s not losing his composure just yet, but his warrior’s stance is showing, and he comes pretty close to breaking cover.

Thankfully, this is when Zhao Yunlan shows up to intervene. Hearing him approach, Shen Wei’s first priority is hiding the Pendant of Pining. His second priority is straightening his collar and tightening his tie. Shen Wei may be in a middle of an attempted mugging, but he’d be damned if he allows Zhao Yunlan to see him dishevelled. Come to think of it, it’s kind of hilarious that Shen Wei’s attempt at pretending to be a poor helpless human includes being completely nonplussed by being attacked. Surely freaking out a little would be an infinitely less suspicious choice. 

Yunlan politely but firmly pushes the professor aside, and Shen Wei waits patiently next to the wall, neatly folding his hands the same way he did at the unpleasant councillor meeting in the previous episode. 

Here we finally see that Zhao Yunlan is pretty impressive in hand to hand combat. This man may not have a sword, but he can easily knock two dudes out with three moves. Again, this is a very short, but pretty damn flawless little piece of choreography. Zhao Yunlan’s fighting prowess is even more accentuated with a gleeful adrenaline-filled grin he breaks into after he’s done. I understand Shen Wei’s endless desire to protect the man he’s devoted to, but, honestly, it’s nice to see Zhao Yunlan not really needing protection - not against simple street crime at least. 

Shen Wei proceeds to calmly dust off his discarded briefcase. Zhao Yunlan proceeds to retrieve the other man’s watch from the ground and then passes it on. With physical contact. Should I be obsessing over how their fingers linger together for a second? Maybe not. I am doing it anyway. 

“What a coincidence”, deadpans Shen Wei, who knows for the fact that the other man is tailing him, and causes a delightful burst of faux outrage in response. 

“What are you implying?”, Zhao Yunlan asks innocently, deflecting further by inquiring whether Shen Wei thinks he staged this little rescue mission. He follows it with “Only you’re allowed to be here this time of night?”, which I choose to read as, “Really, Shen Wei. Why do you think you should have a monopoly on stalking in this relationship?”

As the two are distracted by the low key flirting, one of the muggers makes an opportunity attack on Zhao Yunlan. Shen Wei is alarming Yunlan to this with genuine worry, but does not lose his composure enough to intervene.  

We are treated to another excellent three moves, which are block-break-backfist. Well mixed sound helps, but Bai Yu does look very good as well. The footage does not appear sped up at all, but his movements are fast and crisp, he’s engaging his whole body, everything lands well angle-wise, it’s appropriately safe... Again, I cannot fault this at all. Bai Yu is not physically strong, and this just goes to show that you don’t need a lot of muscle to look like you can be an effective fighter. I don’t want to go into long detail on western media’s obsession with unrealistic physical standards in action media, but suffice it to say that it’s an unhealthy and pointless aesthetic choice which has nothing to do with reality of combat performance - as this scene clearly illustrates. (Look. As I said, stage violence is one of my jobs, and I’m a curvy woman who spends a lot of her time with insecure young actors and drama students. I have opinions.)

Having fended off the attack, Zhao Yunlan exaggerates the situation with the proverb “talking too much will get you killed.” Shen Wei is obviously distressed over his choice of words, but he looks down to hide it. 

At this point the two decide to go home instead of getting the street criminals off the street. 

Zhao Yunlan follows Shen Wei into his flat, pretending very loudly that he has not seen this place before. He is trying way too hard. And there is a touch of a naughtily feline glimmer in his eyes, because he is probably still on that adrenaline rush: his heart would be pounding, senses elevated, brain basking in a pleasant sharpness akin to a sugar rush, when everything is a little bit too saturated. And an attractive mysterious man he just saved is asking him to stay. Zhao Yunlan’s going to have even less brain to mouth filter here than he usually does. 

Shen Wei is getting a first aid to kit to treat Zhao Yunlan’s injuries. It’s anyone’s guess why the self-healing Envoy needs a first aid kit at all - it lives in a Tupperware box as well, suggesting that it’s been assembled and organised by hand rather than store bought. 

Sitting down, and tucking his tie in (because neatness is everything), Shen Wei prepares to administer a mysterious ointment to Zhao Yunlan’s bruise, and states that this is him giving Chief Zhao an opportunity for interrogation. I bet he has got a lie prepared for any question, because this situation has definitely been pre-planned. 

Instead of probing the other man, Zhao Yunlan offers him a job. Shen Wei’s answer is a firm no, which he utters without even a second hesitation. To Zhao Yunlan, this clearly reads as a rejection, as his face crumbles. 

He livens up however, when Shen Wei hurries to add that this is not a denial of help or cooperation. Zhao Yunlan is right to ask why he would take the job then case; this is an entirely reasonable question. I’m guessing, Shen Wei’s reluctance comes from his unwillingness to compromise Hei Pao Shi’s position, rather than an attempt to prevent Zhao Yunlan from getting involved in the cosmic shitstorm which is currently brewing: as the Lord Guardian, he’s gonna get right in the middle of said storm either way. 

“You just move in and didn’t invite your neighbour over for some fun?”, Zhao Yunlan asks.

Laying it on really thick, I see. 

Shen Wei blinks disbelievingly, as if to say “did he just…?” then recovers enough to huff out a laugh.

“My mistake. Next time, I’ll properly invite you.”

Zhao Yunlan snaps his fingers in delight, visibly vibrating with joy. In his head this is Yunlan - 1: Xiao Wei - 0. 

As Shen Wei starts to apply the mysterious ointment, Zhao Yunlan flinches, and Shen Wei is genuinely taken aback by an idea that he might hurt this man. He is so preciously startled for a second, shedding ten thousand years in an instant. I am never going to not be impressed by Zhu Yilong’s ability to switch into Baby Shen Wei mode in a matter of seconds. 

“I didn’t expect you to have such skilful hands.”

Zhao Yunlan’s charm attack truly is unrelenting, and Shen Wei looks up with such a fragile hope in his eyes. He has lived a long time now, and he has learned to maintain thick walls around himself, but he is still incredibly affected by Kunlun’s shameless flirting. 

Continuing his charm offensive, Zhao Yunlan gets so distracted by trying to further impress Shen Wei, he unwittingly reveals that he knows the layout of this flat. And realises what he said. And hopes that the other man had not noticed, adorably brushing his nose in embarrassment. 

He dug this one out for himself, and Shen Wei is far from mortified: he is pleased to have caught the other man out. Zhao Yunlan flails, and Shen Wei quite literally is failing to wipe a smug smile off his own face. 

He’s not even really waiting for an explanation. He’s just happy to win this round. There is even a little “yeah sure let’s pretend I believe you” tilt of the eyebrow, when Yunlan finally comes up with something that sounds as a reasonable excuse. 

After his massive blunder, Zhao Yunlan tries to leave again. Shen Wei stops him, again, and there is no limit to how slyly Zhao Yunlan turns around, followed by a hind of disappointment when all he gets is an ointment, and not, you know, an opportunity to have a good look around Shen Wei’s bedroom. 

Shen Wei is left alone in his flat in a state of utter emotional overload, stroking the Pendant under his shirt. 

Let’s disregard for a second the fluctuating length of the chord the Pendant hangs on (is it between his collar bones or in front of his breastbone? Pick one!), and just appreciate the pining. Shen Wei is going through a lot of feelings since his Kunlun’s returned into his life, and sometimes computing is not an option. 

In the next scene, the muggers are discussing Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan, calling them both too formidable to even attempt an act of revenge against them. Definitely a wise idea. Unfortunately for them, they immediately get attacked by… something.

Spoiler alert: no, it’s not a bear.

It’s the White Shirt Day at the SID. Chu Shuzhi is the only one not participating. In this scene, we discover that Lin Jing likes a horror web novelist called Lai Su - which will be very convenient for the case at hand. During their conversation, Wang Zheng alerts he team to the new case, asking for the whereabouts of their boss. Zhu Hong’s reply is that who knows which old pal the man is hang out with. As we never see him having any friends outside of his job, I choose to believe that he is probably hanging out with Shen Wei; quite possibly exploring the layout of his bedroom. Especially considering how good his mood is as he strolls into the office announcing that he is going to buy a feast for everyone.

Unfortunately, the feast has to wait. Zhao Yunlan, Chu Shuzhi and Xiao Guo head towards the crime scene, which is the very same alley the mugging took place the night before. 

“Based on my experience, he died from freezing.” 

There has never been a more apt reason to use the phrase “no shit Sherlock”. 

Apparently, there is a cctv camera trained right on this very particular dark alley. Which implies that the muggers were even less professional than they appeared to be at the beginning of the episode. Mysteriously, the footage fails to show the actual monster who attacked the poor unfortunate street criminals. It did, on the other hand, capture Zhao Yunlan’s dashing rescue of Professor Shen.

Zhao Yunlan can’t exactly stop his team from rewinding the footage, so he is just left squirming as those around him gape at him spending time with Shen Wei in the middle of the night. 

“You... and Shen Wei? This late at night?”

Chu Shuzhi’s transition from disbelief to a knowing “ah” via a mischievous smirk is particularly amusing. 

The following afternoon, Zhu Hong appears in Shen Wei’s office, laptop in hand. She is quietly furious at being given this task; as I imagine it is very awkward indeed to be a laptop carrier for your crush’s crush. The entire scene she will be alternating between glaring, rolling her eyes, pursing her lips, and glaring with even more venom. 

After Shen Wei gets over his initial bafflement at technology, he realises that Zhao Yunlan is video calling him in order to ask for his expertise on the current case. For the most of this scene the call looks like some sort of fake generic video conference software, apart from some shots on the SID side which very obviously show a pre-recorded footage being played: with a pause button, and a time stamp, and everything.

Shen Wei is in full trolling mode when he educates the SID team on all the types of bears that could have attacked the victim. He tasted this feeling of outsmarting Yunlan the night before and it’s too sweet to let go. Judging by the fact that Da Qing, who is by Zhao Yunlan’s side, is falling asleep during this conversation, we can guess that it’s been going on for a while. 

Zhao Yunlan knows that Shen Wei is trying to prove a point here - he will not be bullied into being a consultant. So, Zhao Yunlan changes tactics, and asks Shen Wei for clues as a friend. Shen Wei assures Zhao Yunlan in turn that he would never hide anything important from. The magnitude of this particular lie is immeasurable, unless Shen Wei considers turning himself into a literal suicide bomb inconsequential. Which, to be fair, he might do. 

Finally, Da Qing wakes up and suggests that the suspect is a Youchu (translated in subs a “secluded beast”). He is not correct, but it is important that we know what those are, because we’ll see them in a couple of episodes - so it actually makes sense to write them in here. 

Shen Wei instantly comes forward, fishes a relevant file out of his drawer, and educates the team on that particular monster. Zhao Yunlan relates that he is familiar with those, and that he knows Hei Pao Shi fought them before in nearby cities. 

Existence of aforementioned nearby cities will remain a beautiful enigma, which will never be explained. Seastar will remain very much a Little Prince-sized planet. 

At this point Zhao Yunlan gets a call about the other mugger being found, and Shen Wei tells him in a rush that he does not think those two men possess Undergrounder qualities. 

When asked however what those qualities are, he does not elaborate, and, after a thick silence, Zhao Yunlan sighs in resignation and finally lets Shen Wei off the hook, assuring him that he knows not all Undergrounders are monsters. He knows - of course he knows - that Shen Wei is hiding stuff. He knows the other man is somehow invested in the Undergounders, and is probably is one himself.  Once again he chooses to trust him absolutely. I know it feels like I say those words every single episode, but this is also the choice Zhao Yunlan makes, deliberately, every single episode. This conversation will leave Zhao Yunlan very cranky for the remainder for the case, but his willingness to keep giving Shen Wei concessions is actually really sweet. 

Shen Wei asks, perhaps, impulsively, that Yunlan shares his findings with him, because he is curious who the culprit is. It makes, as ever, little sense for him to do so considering that he would find it out anyway as Hei Pao Shi.

After completing her mission, Zhu Hong leaves in a huff. She did not say hello and she does not say goodbye either. Shen Wei tries to wave amicably, but aborts the gesture.

He does not yet know - and will not find out for quite some time - why Zhu Hong feels so antagonistic towards him. 

Next stop: the hospital ward with a now insane criminal. Portrayal of mental health issues on this show is... interesting, by which I mean terribly stigmatising. I would have understood if this was a magic-induced psychosis, but I don’t think that’s the case at all. 

Lin Jing realises that the case sounds very much like the web horror novel he likes. It sounds insane, but Yunlan hears him out. The scientist goes into great detail over the author, revealing that he was a leader of his fan club at some point, and detailing several murders from his recent novel that appeared to have have happened in reality.

The team moves on to scout the author’s - Lai Su’s - house, with Zhao Yunlan being the one to approach it. He then proceeds to summon his team via a non-existent radio. 

Look. There is no mouth piece on this jacket. There is no earpiece in his ear. There are no wires. None of the team have radios. None of them even look like they are listening to radios. (Trust me, the “please shut up for a second, someone is speaking into my ear” is a recognisable look). Guardian’s writers/directors. Mah dudes. If you can’t afford radios, just make him do a non-verbal signal, seriously. Same effect, with much less silliness, and no continuity issues. 

Before the team enters the house, we see Ya Qing in crow form for the first time. Even without the benefit of hindsight, it’s easy to recognise that the crow will become narratively significant because she is animated, and this show would not waste its very scarce and rapidly depleting CGI budget in vein. 

We also know that the crow is a Yashou because Lin Jing starts talking about Zhu Hong at that exactly moment. Guardian is many wonderful things - it’s dramatic, breathtaking, heart-wrenching, and poignant - but subtle it is not.

Inside the house, they discover a secret room, which Lai Su is hiding in, and we finally get to meet our unfortunate culprit. 

It is very peculiar how mean-spirited this episode seems to be. The web novelist in question is shown in an unequivocally negative light. He is a coward hiding behind a blanket, a weirdo living in a secret room, a glutton stuffing his face with snacks and drinking wine. He is shown as too vain to stop chasing clout even when he suspects that his novel is leading to people dying. He writes for attention and money rather than out of genuine artistic expression. He is a whimpering mess, begging Lin Jing on his knees to speak to the Chief on his behalf. Even if we consider that moral of the story (as stated later in Guo Changcheng’s diary note) is “internet bad”, this insistence of making Lai Su so unmistakably despicable is baffling. The series is based on the web novel. What kind of message is this sending about its origins?  

On the bright side, I suppose it is nice that part of this episode not revolving around Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei’s relationship is actually rather Lin Jing-centric. So far, he was mostly there for occasional tech support and countless shots of him of screaming at a computer, but here we get to know more about him, and he goes on a little emotional journey of his own - meeting his idol and being distraught by the author not living up to expectations. It is always so disappointing to see creators you admire being imperfect, or downright unpleasant, and it’s easy to sympathise with Lin Jing’s discontent. 

Zhao Yunlan’s modus operandi has always been intuition. Looking at the author, he knows that he must be responsible for the murders, and also knows that he could not possibly have been. For once it is actually Xiao Guo who suggests the solution: multiple personality disorder. Or, magical multiple personality disorder, as it is the case. We see this click with the Chief, and he genuinely praises the young man. 

Back at the house, Lai Su is deciding to stop the murder spree by writing the demise of the homicidal protagonist of his novel. This is his ultimate redemption, which also leads to his untimely death by the hands of the monster who lives within him and is manifested through his writing. 

The team asks Zhao Yunlan what was going on with this strange case. They won’t get an explanation; but Shen Wei will. 

Zhao Yunlan, as promised, drops by Shen Wei’s office late at night to tell him all about the case. He concludes that Lai Su must have had Undergrounder blood in him, with his power not manifesting until now. Zhao Yunlan sounds rather remorseful as he stipulates that the writer could have lived a long happy life despite his origin and abilities, had he not started unknowingly abusing his powers. This Zhao Yunlan is miles removed from the man who vowed to catch every Undergrounder, and we can see Shen Wei infinitely moved by this man’s empathy. 

This, I think, is the very moment Shen Wei starts to fall in love - not with the man who was Kunlun, or the man who will be Kunlun, or the man who resembles Kunlun - with Zhao Yunlan, Lord Guardian, Chief of Special Investigations Department, with all his incessant flirting, and sharp edges, and pointed questions, and endless understanding. 

In the final moments of this episode Zhao Yunlan shares a dark premonition that something truly terrible will happen in their city. 

He has no idea how right he is. 

Next up: Episode 8: The Morning Porridge 

——

This conversation happened with my partner as I was working on this recap:

Me: … I am two scenes in and this is how much I’ve typed up already. 

My partner: Honey! I know you’re Russian, but War and Peace has already been written.